SOME THAT MEANS WARMER TEMPERATURES, BUT FOR MANY OF YOU IT MEANS ONE THING AND ONE THING ONLY...ALLERGIES AND FOR MANY FOLKS -- THOSE ALLERGIES HAVE ALREADY KICKED IN. ALL NEW THIS MORNING, HOW CAN YOU TELL THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A COLD AND ALLERGIES -- AND WHEN SHOULD YOU GO TO THE DOCTOR TO GET CHECKED OUT. PLUS, IS THERE ANYTHING YOU CAN DO TO LESSEN YOUR SUFFERING? WDSU METEOROLOGIST KWEILYN MURPHY HAS THE ANSWERS. "we love Spring for the longer days and the warmer temps. But the down side is an uptick in pollen." DOWN THE DAYS UNTIL SPRING. THE WINTER MONTHS HAVE BEEN TOUGH. "we have had very high levels of pollen in the last couple of weeks because of our odd, elongated winter." SPRING IS A SIGN OF REBIRTH. AND ALL THAT BLOSSOMING AND BLOOMING BRING FORTH PLENTY OF POLLEN, WHICH DIRTIES UP OUR CARS AND DOES A NUMBER ON OUR SINUSES. IF YOU'RE SUFFERING, YOU'RE NOT ALONE. "i will tell you in my clinics, we have seen 40 to 50 patients in a day just coming in with allergic rhinitis, which is what you get from pollen." AND FOR THOSE WHO THINK IT'S JUST A COLD? CONSIDER THIS. "if you have a cold the same time every year, it's not a cold. It's allergic rhinitis." WDSU MEDICAL EDITOR DR. COREY HEBERT SAYS -- THERE ARE DEFINITIVE SYMPTOMS. "so, it's an allergen, an allergic rhinitis, or an allergy if there's no fever, if it lasts more than 14 days, it comes the same time every year." AT THIS POINT IN THE ALLERGY STAGE, HEBERT SAYS, AN ANTIBIOTIC IS NOT NECESSARY. "you just have to turn off the faucet in your head that is that is making so much mucous. And you do that by taking antihistamines...or steroids if its very serious." WE CAN'T ALWAYS CONTROL THE ACTIONS OF OTHERS, BUT THERE ARE SIMPLE STEPS YOU CAN TAKE TO PREVENT THE SPREAD OF POLLENS. "the key is keep your hands washed, because we know that you're touching things that have pollen all over them. And then you're rubbing your eyes and rubbing your nose." IF YOU CAN, AVOID OUTSIDE ACTIVITIES BETWEEN 5 AND 10AM. TRY TO HOLD OFF UNTIL LATE AFTERNOON WHEN POLLEN LEVELS ARE LOWER. AND FINALLY, IT IS RECOMMENDED THAT YOU KEEP THOSE HEATING, VENTILATION, AND AIR-CONDITIONING SYSTEMS CLEAN. "Those systems need to be cleaned, at least, every six months. But some people, because their allergies are so bad, should get them cleaned once a month." SO THIS SPRING, OWN YOUR ALLERGIES. OR, YOU MAY HAVE TO SUFFER THE NASAL AND COUGHING CONSEQUENCES. FOR WDSU...I'M METEOROLOGIST KWEILYN MURPHY Today: Partly cloudy and mild.

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